Upholstery apparatus.



No. 613 050] Patented Aug. 20,1901.

A. FRESCHL, A UPHOLSTERY APPARATUS.

(Application filed flgpt. 25, 1999. (N 0 M 0 d 0 4o i is desirably previously provided with certain I for which it is intended.

NITED STATES ATENT QFFICE.

ALFRED FRESCHL, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

UPHOLSTERY APPARATUS.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,050, dated August 20, 1901.

Application filed September 25, 1899. Serial No. 731,580. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED FRESCHL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Upholstery Apparatus, (Case No. 9;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a'full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to upholstery apparatus, and especially to a device which is designed to indicate the locations and patterns in which the plaits and tufts are to be formed in the outer covering or fabric of tufted cushions for sofas, chairs, carriages, and the like; and its object is to provide a device in which work of this character may be rapidly and accurately performed.

Upholstered cushions, such as may now be produced upon machines constructed and operated in accordance with the inventions disclosed in various Letters Patent of the United States heretofore granted to me, usually consist of a filling of hair, excelsior, or like material, a bottom or back of cardboard, burlap, or other suitable material,and a facing or cover of leather,cloth, or similar material, the facing being tufted by. dividing the filling into a number of elevated, round, square, or diamond-shaped projections and secured to the back between said elevations at the base of the cushion by suitable fastening means of various kinds, the outer edges of the cushion being finished in any manner to suit the use In manufacturing cushions of this character by machines constructed as above noted the outer covering marks, which may be perforations at the intersections of the dividing-lines between the tufts to indicate the location of the securing means in the depressions at the base of the elevations or the pattern which is to be reproduced in the cushion. The cover is generally dampened to expand the goods, and

. the operator then carefully plaits or folds the material by hand to make the plaits and presses them with an iron. This method of preparing the cover with the pattern or design which is to be followed is very laborious and consumes much time, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of simple construction and easy operation which shall prepare the cover by mark ing the desired pattern thereon.

With this object in view the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part thereof, Figure l is a perspective view of one form of device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of another form of apparatus for marking the material in accordance with my invention. Fig. 3 is a view in transverse vertical section of a form of roller or drum which may be employed, and Fig. 4 is an elevation of a modified form of apparatus in which a circular platen is employed.

Referring to the drawings, the reference= letter A designates a framework of suitable construction composed of uprights, end and side rails, the latter in some cases being provided with suitable grooves or teeth to receive corresponding portions on a drum or roller, as will be fully hereinafter described. Upon the base formed by the side and end rails of the frame is located a platen or table B, upon which the cloth constituting the outer covering of the cushion is adapted to be placed in order to receive the marks or creases indicating the plaits or dividing-lines between the elevated projections or tufts of the completed cushion. These marks or creases are produced by reciprocating a suitable impression or pressure device of any desired form and character over the platen, the latter being provided with suitable means to produce the marks or creases, as more fully hereinafter disclosed, and the pressure device being of any of the various forms hereinafter enumerated or of any other equivalent form.

In order to produce the marks or creases in or on the cloth, suitable markers are provided upon the table, these markers being provided in a number of diiferent ways and in any variety of patterns.

I It is of course understood that in tufted cushions the depressions or tuft-pits between the elevated projections constituting the face of the cushion are of greater or less depth, according to the character of the finished product. For example, a cushion having the ordinary mattress -tuft has shallow tuft pits or depressions of about one-half inch depth, while one having what are commercially known as deep tufts has pits varying from an inch and a half to two inches in depth. It is therefore usual to provide an excess of cover material or fullness of cloth varying in amount,according to the character of the product,and similarly the marks man ually applied to the cover were arranged upon a correspondingly-enlarged scale or spaced apart somewhat more than are the corresponding tuft-pits of the cushion itself when deeptuft cushions were made, this enlargement being unnecessary for shallow tufts, asthe stretch of the cloth provided sufficient mate rial in such case. In accordance with this well-kn own requirement for fullness of mateaial for certain styles of tufts it is to be understood that when this apparatus is designed to be used for covers for such cushions the markers are arranged and disposed upon an enlarged scale of the pattern or design to be produce in the upholstered cushion.

produced or are arranged somewhat farther apart than are the corresponding tuft-pits or bases of the projections of the finished cushion in order to provide means for furnishing the required fullness.

For example, in the form of device shown in Fig. 1 the platen is provided with such devices by being constituted of a cast-iron plate, having marking edges or creasers b integral therewith and arranged thereon in any suitable des'ign or pattern that it is desired to re In this instance the platen preferably fits removably within and is held by the frame and may be detached and replaced by others having different designs when it is desired to vary the pattern, or, as shown in Fig. 2, the platen may be simply the top of the table, provided with saw kerfs or channels b in which markers b preferably composed of thin metallic strips, are removably placed, the channels being arranged so that the markers may be disposed for different patterns or for a combination of various designs and either for the full or only part width of the material. By this means any design may be impressed upon or in the material or any part of its width, as may be desired. It is to be understood thatin either of the forms just described any arrangement of the markers may be provided to suit the pattern that is to be reproduced in the finished cushion.

- The table or platen is provided, preferably, with pins or any other suitable form of retaining device, which holds the material to be marked securely in place while the impression device is being used, the cloth being stretched taut over the pins, which are indi cated by the reference-letter b As previously stated, the impression device may be of any suitable form, the only requisite being that it shall properly press the material vupon the markers. For example, a roller of the same width as the platen may be used in order to mark the entire width of the cloth at one operation; or a small hand-roller may be employed, the operator going over the marks for the different tufts in succession or in any preferred order; or a flat-iron may be used, in which case a dampened cloth will preferably be laid over the cover material; or the operator may successfully and conveniently mark the cloth by merely pressing it down upon the markers or creasers with his hands, or any other preferred method may be employed.

In case a drum or roller of the same width as the platen shall be employed, as at O in Fig. 1, it will be more convenient to provide means for properly guiding it in its move,- ments over the platen. For this purpose suitable guides may be provided, either in the form of depending flanges on the drum or toothed rails and intermeshingcogs. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the ends of the drum may be provided with suitable flanges c, which travel along the edges of the platen or table, or the side rails of the frame may be provided with suitable notched rails b, which .receive and coact with corresponding teeth 0, located on the ends of thedrum. When an impression device of this character is used, it will also be advantageous to provide the frame or table at each end with risers b, which may be raised portions of the rails or separate pieces and whose function is to raise the roll or drum up out of contact with the material on the table, so that the latter may be adjusted lengthwise of the table to mark another section thereof. In practice with a form of impression device of this character the first section of the material to be marked is laid upon the table and secured in place by the pins. The roller is passed over it to mark or crease the section on the table and is lifted out of contact therewith at either end of its path of travel, preferably by the risers b, when the operator releases the material from the pins,

adjusts it lengthwise to secure another section of it upon the table, again passes the drum over the material, and so on until the entire strip or bolt is completed. In the same manner when impression devices other than the roller 0 are used-such as a hand-roller or a flat-ironthe material is placed upon the table in successive sections and each section marked for the whole or part of its width, as may be desired, until the entire job is completed.

While I have thus far described an apparatus in which the table or platen is provided with markers either fixed or removable, in conjunction with which an impression device of any of the various forms enumerated may be employed, and while this form embodies the preferred exemplification of my inven tion, it is of course apparent that,on the other hand, a drum or roller, such as O in Fig. 3,

may be employed as the platen and provided with suitable markers.

It is apparent when the drum is provided with the markers that it may be composed of a cast jacket slipped over a suitable core or that it may be merely a tubular casting. In

either case it may be provided with the requisite markers arranged upon its periphery in the relation adapted to impress or crease .the material with the desired pattern, or, as shown in Fig. 3, the face of the roller may be .of any suitable material, provided with channels or kerfs arran ed in such manner as to provide seats for the markers in different designs or patterns and adapted to receive the marking-strips 0 which are adapted to :the shape of the drum.

It is obvious that in case the drum be provided with the markers to operate as the in unison by any suitable means, such as the intermeshing gears shown therein.

In'order to provide for more effectually creasing the material where it is desired to do this rather than merely make a mark upon its surface, it is obvious that this may be done. by means of a fiat-iron or by increasing the pressure of the hands or that when the roller G is employed it may be provided with suitable gas or electrical connections, such as indicated in Fig. 1 by the reference-letter c, for the purpose of heating it.

When the table or platen of Figs. 1 and 2 ,1 is provided withthe markers, either rigid or 1 45.

removable, the face of the impression device is preferably provided with a smooth covering of yielding material, such as rubber, and, on the other hand, when the drum or roller carries the markers the supplemental part is desirably provided with a smooth rubber facing.

In some classes of work the cover material is perforated before being applied to the mold in which the cushion is upholstered, in order to fit over pins or buttons on the tufters. It is obvious that this step in the preparation of the material may be performed upon an apparatus of the character here described by providing the platen with suitable perforators, such as thin metallic tubes having cutting edges, and it is to be understood that the term marker as used herein is to be construed as covering any device that delineates the pattern on or in the cloth and covers a perforator, as well as a device that merely impresses a line on the cloth or produces a crease therein. The term platen is here used to designate the part or element which carries the markers and is intended to include any element or construction that performs the function of coacting with the impression device. As before stated, I prefer to employ a platen having a plane face and to use in conjunction therewith any suitable impression means, it being found in practice that better results are obtained by using a platen of the character shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus for marking covers of tufted pads comprising a base or platen provided with markers arranged in enlargement of the pattern to be reproduced.

2. An apparatus formarking covers of tufted cushions comprising a base or platen,

marking means on the platen arranged in pattern and to provide for the fullness of material in the tufts of the cushion.

3. An apparatus for positioning tuft-pits in covers of tufted pads comprising a platen or base having markers arranged in the same pattern upon a larger scale with the tuft-pits of the finished cushion.

4. In an upholstery apparatus, the combination of a platen, creasers on the platen to mark a cover to indicate the lines upon which it is to be plaited to produce the tufts, and a roller adapted to rotate over the face of the platen.

5. In an upholstery apparatus, in combination a platen, means upon the platen to mark a cover to indicate the locations of the tuft-pits in the finished article, and means to press the cover upon the marking means.

6. In an upholstery-machine, the combination of a platen provided with channels, and markers disposed in said channels, with means to press the cloth upon the markers.

7. In an upholstery-machine, the combination of a platen provided with removable markers corresponding in pattern with the tufts to be produced and means to provide pressure upon the cloth.

8. In an upholstery-machine, the combination of a platenprovided with channels to receive markers, a suitable pressure device, and means to vary the arrangement of the markers. 0

9. As a new article of manufacture, anupholstery-marker consisting of a platen and marking edges or strips arranged thereon in the pattern to be reproduced in the uphol stered article.

10. In an upholstery-machine, the combination of a pressure device, and platen provided with interchangeable markers to impress the location of the tuft-pits of the finished article in any one of a plurality of patterns.

11. In an upholstery apparatus, the combination of a roller and a platen provided with 'creasers adapted to mark the cloth with the pattern to be upholstered, and means to vary the pattern.

12. In an upholstery apparatus, a platen provided with risers, a roller traversing said platen and adapted to be elevated by said risers, and means to mark the cloth.

13. In an upholstery apparatus, a platen provided with retaining devices to hold the material, a roller traversing the face of the platen, means to mark the cloth, and risers to raise the roller off the platen.

14; In an upholstery apparatus, the com- 15. In an upholstery apparatus, the com-,

bination of a platen provided with channels representing various patterns, removable markers adapted to said channels, and an impression device.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' ALFRED FRESCI-IL; Witnesses:

ROBERT J. CATCHFOLE, J. MCROBERTS. 

